Of Sound Mind
by chibifurby
Summary: Samus is fatally injured due to an accident while fighting Ridley, who takes it upon himself to make sure she gets better...so he can finish her off in a fair fight...or so he says...What he doesn't plan for is Samus having amnesia when she's healed.
1. Chapter 1

I just recently started getting into Metroid, a little late I know, so I don't know too much about it. Therefore the planets will probably remain nameless and same with the different species. Also I wouldn't be surprised if the characters come out to be out of character or described wrong. Please bear with it and tell me what you think!

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Chapter 1

Samus Aran cursed as a blast aimed at her feet forced her to leap back. Ridley and Samus were having one of their many confrontations, but this time, Ridley seemed oddly impatient. Samus guessed that all the times that she had managed to beat him back were finally taking its toll on the dragon. The dragon's frustration could only be matched by Samus'. You just couldn't kill that stubborn dragon. If you defeated him in a battle he'd fly off to lick his wounds and come back for more later.

Samus raised her arm cannon and fired a volley of missiles that Ridley deflected with a wave of his spear-like tail. Samus gave a frustrated sigh. This fight was pointless. She and Ridley have fought so often and gotten to a point in their "relationship" that every habit was easily noticed and allowed the other to counter the upcoming attack. To make matters worse, they were fighting on an extremely hostile planet, inhabited by creatures that even scared Ridley's space pirates…maybe that's why Ridley was acting impatient…

Ridley opened his mouth, preparing to fire another beam from his mouth. Samus narrowed her eyes. It was a feint and she leapt back, Ridley's tail impaling the ground in front of her. Ridley gave a frustrated screech and Samus took a step back from her adversary. There was a cracking sound behind her and she looked back. Samus found her foot half way off the side of a cliff, causing her to give a gasp of surprise and quickly taking a step forward. She looked back at Ridley to find that he was grinning.

Samus couldn't believe it. After all this time, it seemed like Ridley managed to think one step ahead of her and forced her into a corner. Could he read her that easily now?

"Finally…after all these years I finally corner you…" Ridley panted. "It looks like our long conflict…is finally at its end." Ridley wrenched his tail out of the ground, leaving long deep cracks in it.

Samus scoffed. "You've caught me in worse…" she retorted. "Face it Ridley, you'll never kill me! Not now, not before, not ever." She raised her arm cannon and fired an ice missile but Ridley dug his tail into the ground and scooped up a large rock and launched it into the missile's path. Samus cursed yet again.

"Samus…when will you learn that nothing you do will surprise me anymore. I know all of your abilities and I know your potential. You have no chance of beating me. Not this time."

Samus gave a defiant sneer but scooted her feet back, trying to get as far as possible from the dragon without falling into the canyon below. "I could say the same about you. There is no way that you-" There was a loud cracking sound and both Samus and Ridley looked down at Samus' feet. The cracks that Ridley's tail made were growing bigger. To Samus' surprise, as well as Ridley's, the ground beneath Samus crumbled and she fell down into the chasm.

Ridley rushed to the edge and looked down into the canyon to see Samus laying on her back. From this distance Ridley could just barely make out the cracks along the battle-worn power suit. To some what of a relief, Samus got shakily to her feet. Ridley smiled, it would've been embarrassing if word got out he won because of a simple accident. Ridley was about to jump down into the canyon until he heard a loud screech, not unlike his own. He watched as what looked like a giant wyrm burst out of the ground underneath Samus and caught her in its pincered mouth. Ridley watched in somewhat of a trance as one of the pincers pierced Samus' torso, the other shattering her arm cannon and piercing her arm. Even at a distance Ridley knew that the red on Samus' visor was the blood that she had just vomited.

The wyrm slammed Samus' shattered body against the canyon wall, causing half of her chest plate to break off and her helmet to slip from her head. The blood dripping from the back of her head told Ridley just how hard she hit the wall. Ridley slowly flew down into the canyon, his eyes never leaving the unconscious form of Samus. The wyrm looked around at Ridley and roared, as if it thought Ridley was about to steal its meal.

Ridley watched the wyrm in interest. Its size rivaled Ridley's, though not as wide, Ridley was sure that, if standing on its tip, the wyrm would easily top him. He could just let the wyrm eat Samus and the thorn in the side of the space pirates would be gone. But something beat that thought back. If news got out that he had let a feral wyrm kill his greatest adversary, he'd be the laughingstock of the galaxy…Or at least, that's how he figured it. Now he couldn't let that happen now could he?

Ridley stood at his full height, as opposed to hunched over, and fly at the wyrm, slashing through its pincers with his claws with one smooth motion. He whipped the wyrm back with his tail and caught Samus in his arms before she hit the ground. The wyrm roared in fury and hunched over, the spines on its back standing on end before it shot them at Ridley. Ridley shielded Samus' limp form along with himself with his wings. Ridley flared his wings and opened his mouth. Before the wyrm could react, Ridley unleashed a beam that tore the wyrm apart.

Feeling oddly proud of himself, Ridley's attention turned back to Samus. He placed his head against her chest like he's seen many humans do and heard a small, faint heart beat. It was then Ridley knew; Samus was dying. Even after all their fights, Samus had always came out relatively ok. The prospect of Samus actually dying scared Ridley, and the thought that it scared him scared him even more. Samus had been is one and only life time rival, the foe that he had sworn to defeat even at the cost of his own life, and to have her die from a mere accident? Ridley couldn't let that happen. He flew up into the sky with Samus held safely in his arms. For the time being, he would protect and help her…he had to…


	2. Chapter 2

It always makes me happy to see a lot of people favoriting and putting my stories on alert. It inspires me to write more...you know what else inspires me to write more? REVIEWS!...So please...I want to know your thoughts...as long as it's not simplistic...but if you must....I'll like those just as much.

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Chapter 2

Ridley sighed as he watched the other pirates celebrating in front of him. Their recent raids have been going so well that even the higher ups thought it was time to relax and have some fun. Ridley, however, just couldn't see the point anymore. There was no challenge, there was no one of significance to stand up to them and those who did pose a threat were killed instantly by him, not one putting up an admirable fight.

It had been almost two months since the galaxy had seen Samus and this gave the space pirates a fresh dose of confidence. Without Samus to stop them there were only a few bounty hunters left that had the strength to oppose the space pirates and simply could not stop them at EVERY turn. But this was all just boring nonsense to Ridley. Without Samus to be defeated, every victory was just a hollow victory, there was no sense of accomplishment and the federation but up such little resistance Ridley was sure he could just waltz right into the pirate's next target alone and still be victorious.

A blaster shot pierced the sounds of celebration and Ridley looked up. One of the pirates lay dead on the floor, a hole going through his head. Judging from the position of the hole Ridley looked up into the high mountains that sat just off the pirate outpost where the sniper would've been situated. Ridley wrapped his wings around his chest just as another shot rang out and bounced off his thick hide. Ridley groaned. He had met this ploy before, several times with Samus. Very soon, someone was going to sneak up behind him and threaten his life. And, just as he had predicted, a long blade was placed at his throat, the edge made of a crystal that Ridley had encountered before and knew that it could hurt him quite a lot…if it were to cut him at all…

"It's over, Ridley, there are several ways we can kill you right now, so be a good little dragon and give yourself up…"

Ridley sighed and stood up. He was surprised that his size did not seem to matter to the bounty hunter behind him, although it also helped him narrow down the candidates for his attacker.

"Pitiful…utterly pitiful…" Ridley muttered as he was ushered forward, through the crowd of pirates.

"Be quiet…we know that you've had your share of trouble dealing with Samus and I can assure you we're twice as good as her…"

To his own surprise, Ridley felt himself grow heated at the bounty hunter's slash at Samus, offended, not for himself, but Samus.

"Better than Samus…?" Ridley scoffed. "You better learn your place…you're no where near well enough to compare with her…"

"Sure…you'll be singing a different tune when we hand you over to the feds…" The bounty hunter pressed a button on the device in his ear and spoke. "Bring the ship in Dax…He's ours…" Ridley smiled as the bounty hunter was greeted with silence. "Dax do you read me? Jenna you there? Jenna?!"

Ridley smirked as he turned to the bounty hunter. "Aran will always best everyone…but never me…let that be your life's lesson…"

The Phyrigisian yelled in fury and swung his blade at Ridley, who dodged it casually and with ease. After a large swing that caused Ridley to fly back, the Phyrigisian raised his hand behind him and a bright blue ball formed in his palm. Ridley understood this stance, having seen Samus in it many times. The bounty hunter was going to shoot a projectile, and considering his race, probably meant to freeze Ridley. Ridley's eyes widened in surprise, however, as the Phyrigisian swung his entire body behind the throw, making the projectile fly faster than Ridley had anticipated. Ridley tried to evade the blast but was not fast enough. He found one of his wings encased in ice. Ridley glared at the bounty hunter, who leapt up, sword raised in his hand.

Ridley smirked. "My reach is longer…"

Before the Phyrigisian knew it, he was held in mid-air, Ridley's tail spearing him in the stomach.

"Learn your place…" Ridley grabbed the bounty hunter with a clawed foot and ripped his tail out of him, stamping him into the ground. With his claws, Ridley raked the Phyrigisian off the ground and let the momentum carry him into the air. Ridley opened his mouth and disintegrated the bounty hunter from the torso up. The pirates around him cheered at Ridley's display of power. Ridley sighed and turned to leave. "I'm resting in my ship…no one disturb me…"

"Of course, Lord Ridley," said a nearby officer as Ridley walked past.

Ridley entered his ship and headed into the back, where mainly storage was kept. But instead of storage, a large tank sat in the middle of the room, with someone floating inside the tank's contents.

Ridley walked up to the tank and looked at the body of Samus Aran. Her body had healed nicely, just like Ridley had hoped, but she had yet to regain conciousness. He had done his best to save Samus after the interference of the wyrm but all of it was going to be for nothing if Samus remained asleep. Ridley stared at Samus' sleeping face and scratched the back of his head in annoyance. It was hard enough to keep Samus alive without anyone knowing, yet she couldn't do him the favor of waking up and letting him kill her in a fair fight. The thought frustrated Ridley, and even more so did the thought of him actually helping his archenemy.

"How much longer are you going to make me wait, Aran…we have a score to settle…and I'm going to make sure rip you apart with my own hands once it's all over…" Ridley growled and turned away from the tank to leave before a beeping sound reached his ears.

Ridley looked back to see that Samus' heart rate and brain activity had gone up. Ridley felt excited that Samus was finally waking up and was glad he had made up the excuse to check on her. Finally, Ridley would be able to satisfy his desire to defeat Samus. Quickly, Ridley drained the tank and pulled Samus out, laying her on the ground as she started to stir.

Soon, Samus' eyes started to flutter open as she started to wake but immediately widened in shock as a clawed hand slammed down on her throat, making her choke and thrash about.

"I've waited a long time for this, Samus Aran, so you will do what I say. You will retrieve your power suit and you will fight me. And then I will defeat you and kill you…and…and…" Ridley looked down at Samus, who was no longer thrashing about and was looking up at Ridley with innocent and tearful eyes. "W-what are you doing?"

"Lemme go…" Samus whimpered, tugging at Ridley's hand. "I can't breathe…"

Ridley felt so take-aback he released Samus and watched her sit up, rubbing her neck.

"That was mean…who are you anyways?" Samus asked, massaging her throat.

Ridley looked at Samus in astonishment. "Um…Ridley…we've only been fighting each other for years now…"

Samus gave an angry huff and crossed her arms. "Well with a greeting like that I wouldn't be surprised…"

Ridley suddenly felt a pang of guilt, something he was sure he never felt before. "I-I'm sorry…I just thought…wait…you don't remember anything?"

"Well I remember my name is Samus Aran…and I remember all the basic stuff…like how to walk and talk, the difference between a human and a dragon…" She pointed to herself and Ridley in turn. "But other than that I don't remember anything." Samus gave Ridley a shrug.

Ridley groaned and sat against the wall, holding his head. Just his luck…He went so far out of his way to aid in Samus' recovery just so he could fight her in a fair fight and what does he get? Some innocent human girl with amnesia. He stayed like that for a while until he felt something tap his knee. He looked up to see Samus trying to get his attention.

"Are you ok…?" Samus asked, concern etched on her face.

"Yeah…I'm fine…Are you sure you don't remember me at all?"

Samus wracked her brain. She looked up at Ridley and shook her head. "Not really…but…" Ridley looked at Samus with some bit of hope inside of him. "I think my body remembers you…"

Ridley looked at Samus in confusion. "Just what do you mean by that?"

Samus pondered the thought. "I dunno…it's just…when ever I try and remember you…it feels like…there's something that should be doing right now…with you."

Ridley smirked at the thought, sure that it was something along the lines of him blowing up into a million little pieces. "And just what is that?"

Samus fidgeted a little and looked away. "It's kind of embarrassing to say…since…I don't really know you at the moment…"

Ridley couldn't help but smile. He figured that this innocent side of Samus was ashamed at the thought of actually wanting to kill someone. He gave a small chuckle. "Samus, you're the toughest person I know. I'm sure what ever you feel like doing you would've just followed your feelings through."

"You sure you won't get mad at me…?" Samus asked, blushing slightly.

This earned her another chuckle from Ridley. Humans were such interesting creatures. "Well I'm sure it won't come as a surprise…" He said. He felt, that without all the fighting, he would go insane. He seriously hoped that this amnesia would rid itself quickly. Her innocence felt contagious.

Samus nodded and lifted her hands up towards Ridley's face. Ridley closed his eyes, expecting any form of attack. What he didn't expect, though, was to feel a light tap on the forehead. He opened his eyes and looked questioningly at Samus.

"It feels like I should be reprimanding you about something now…but I don't know what you did…" Samus gave an embarrassed laugh. "You must've been someone really close to me…" Samus blushed again. "I feel like I've known you forever…and that you're very important to me…"

"Yeah…I'm you're archenemy…! You became a bounty hunter to kill me and get rid of all the space pirates.!" Ridley growled, annoyance getting the better of him.

"T-that can't be…" Samus said, shaking her head, tears starting to well up in her eyes from both hurt and fright.

Ridley snarled. "I killed your parents! You joined the bounty hunters to kill me! The reason we see each other so much is because you want your revenge on me! You hate me! And I despise you just the same! You should be trying to kill me! Not just sitting there…crying…" Ridley gave a frustrated sigh as Samus began to cry in front of him. "Come on…d-don't cry…it's so…unsightly…" When Samus didn't stop Ridley gave up and left the room. He really needed a break and if he had any wishes of fulfilling his dream, he needed to get Samus back to her old self. He stepped into the ship's cockpit and lifted off. He had to get the old Samus back, cause the current one just annoyed the hell out of him.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ridley sat in the pilot's seat for a long while, watching the stars fly by as he lazily steered the ship towards a planet on the rim of the pirate's territory. It was there that Ridley planned to try and help Samus regain her memory. There was no threat of being discovered, since the place was his own little "resort".

Ridley was in the middle of his pondering when he felt a soft tapping on his elbow. He turned to see Samus standing there, looking very nervous. "What do you want…?"

Samus fidgeted slightly before answering, looking a little confused. "I was just wondering what you were yelling at me when I woke up…you said something about a 'power suit'…what's that?"

Ridley sighed, setting the ship on auto-pilot and getting up. "Come with me…I'll show you…" Ridley started walking towards the rear of the ship when he noticed Samus wasn't following him. He looked around at her to see her still standing in the same spot. "…What?"

"I…kinda don't know what you're saying…" Samus said, nervously. "All I'm hearing is screeching and…stuff…"

"What are you talking about…you should be able to understand me just fin- Wait a second…" Ridley gave Samus a dead-panned look. "Where's your translator? The thing that was in your ear?" Ridley pointed at the side of his head for emphasis.

Realization hit Samus. "Oh…you mean this?" Samus held out her hand and opened it to show that she was holding a small device in her hand. "It was in my ear and it started bothering me so I took it out…"

Ridley clapped a hand to his face. He took the device from her and mimed placing it in his ear, then handing it back to Samus. Samus placed the device back in her ear and looked up at Ridley.

"Can you understand me now…?" Ridley growled.

Samus meeped at his tone of voice and nodded.

Ridley sighed. "That's a translator…normally you wouldn't understand the language that I speak so that helps you to do so. I have the same." Ridley turned his head and pointing at a similar device on him so Samus could see. "Don't take it out again…"

"But it's really bothering me…" Samus complained, rubbing her ear.

Ridley seethed. "Well I'm sorry I don't have one especially for humans…that's the best I have…"

Samus looked like she wanted to complain again but feared Ridley's wrath so she stayed quiet.

"Now…you were asking about your power suit?" Ridley asked. Samus nodded meekly. "Come with me…"

Samus followed closely behind Ridley, but not too close that if he were to stop suddenly she'd run into him. When they reached the storage room she watched Ridley as he rummaged around in the crates until he pulled out her power suit.

"This is your power suit. It provides you with the arsenals and armor needed for you to be a bounty hunter…killed me couple times with it too…"

Samus blinked. "Wait if I've 'killed' you before how are you still alive?"

"Long complicated story that you don't need to know…"

Samus took the arm cannon and fitted it on her arm. She start switching though her arsenal, watching the cannon changed shape with each variation. Ridley winced when Samus reached the plasma beam, very unpleasant memories with that beam. He could remember clearly having that beam burn straight though his hide. Samus saw Ridley reaction to the beam and pointed the cannon at him, miming shooting him with the cannon, and then giggling.

"Put that down before you hurt yourself wit-" Ridley was cut off as a bright beam fly right past his head. There was an explosion and the ship began to shudder. "You idiot, you just shot the engine!"

"I'm sorry!!" Samus wailed, dropping the arm cannon at once.

Ridley dashed to the cockpit and looked out the window to see the ship falling towards a nearby planet. He grabbed the controls and turned off the auto-pilot in hopes of at least slowing their decent. As they entered the planet's atmosphere, the ship began to rock violently. Ridley tried to keep a firm hold on the controls and looked back to see Samus clinging to the door frame. Ridley looked back to see the ground coming towards them extremely fast. He cursed, flew back, and covered Samus' body with his own, in order to shield her from the collision as the ship crashed into the ground.

When the ship came to a stop, Samus looked up to see Ridley hugging her to his body. She tried to look around his body and saw that they had landed right in front of a dense looking forest. Ridley started to move, which made Samus look up at him.

"Are you ok…?" He asked.

Samus nodded slowly as he let her go. She gasped as she saw a thick piece of debris stuck in his side.

Ridley blinked and looked at his side and saw the piece of debris too. "Oh…so that's why it's hurting…" Ridley grasped the piece of debris and pulled it out, blood pouring from the gash in his side.

"I'm really really sorry…" Samus whimpered as she watched the blood seep down Ridley's body.

Ridley waved her apology aside. "Don't worry about it…I've had worse…"

"But there's so much blood…"

"It'll heal…now let's go…" Ridley pushed aside fallen parts of the ship and dug his way into the back.

Samus stayed put for a little until she heard the ship's hull creek loudly and she ran after Ridley. When she caught up to him he was digging though the mess that had appeared in the storage room due to the crash. When she walked up Ridley stood up straight, Samus' power suit over his shoulder. He looked at her for a second before pushing her behind him. He opened his mouth and a beam gathered and was shot into the wall, blowing a giant hole in the side, making an exit for them.

When they got outside Ridley turned to Samus. "Put this on…" He handed her the power suit. "There used to be a pirate research facility on this planet but it's abandoned now. Although some of the experiments my still be running loose. You're suit will provide some protection for you. I'm going to go find some shelter, so you wait here. Don't go into the ship anymore, the structure is unstable and it might collapse. I won't be long so just wait a while…"

Samus nodded and took the suit from Ridley and watched as he flew off. She glanced at her power suit and one thought ran though her mind…how do you put it on…? Samus played with the suit for a while, careful not to break anything or set something off again. Finally, after what seemed like forever, she managed to slip the suit on. No sooner had she put the suit on, the bushes next to her start to rustle. Samus jumped to her feet and pointed her arm cannon shakily at the bush. After a moment, something floated out. Samus thought that it looked kinda cute, not knowing the fearsome reputation of a metroid. Samus lowered her arm cannon and stretched out her other hand to it. The metroid seemed to consider her for a little while before floating slowly towards her.

"That's right…I'm not going to hurt you…"

The metroid floated into her arms and she held it up with her cannon as she scratched the top of its head. It seemed to gurgle slightly and Samus took that to be a good sign and continued.

"Samus! Put that thing down right now!" Samus looked up to see Ridley flying at her at top speed.

"Aw…but it's so cute looking." Samus pouted.

"That thing is by no means cute! That's a metroid; it sucks the life out of things and is very dangerous!"

Samus looked down at the metroid in her arms, which seemed to all but bubble in comfort in her arms. "It looks harmless to me…"

Ridley couldn't believe his eyes. The only time he's seen a metroid this docile was when the scientist put them at extremely low temperatures and yet Samus was holding it as if it was a cute little puppy dog.

"Come on…I found some shelter for us…" Ridley said, eyeing the metroid.

Suddenly the metroid rose out of Samus' arms and started to float away.

"Bye…!" Samus said, waving at the metroid. After the metroid disappeared from sight she turned to Ridley. "You were worried about me…"

Ridley blinked and growled. "No I wasn't…"

"You were worried that the metroid would hurt me…and in the ship you protected me during the crash…you care for me…" Samus smiled at Ridley though her visor.

"That's not true…" Ridley snarled and picking Samus up in his claws. "I just don't want to see you finished off by something other than me…"

Samus didn't seem afraid of Ridley this time. She just merely laid there in Ridley's grip, even as she felt it tighten around her.

Ridley growled again. "Just you wait…once you get your memory back…I'm going to rip you apart…"

Samus felt Ridley's grip loosen around her and she slipped out. "You're not going to…Just admit it…you care about me…" Before Ridley could say anything, Samus turned and walked off in the direction Ridley had come from.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, before the chapter starts I would like to say a thing or two. If you all haven't realized it already, or haven't read the story genre...this is a romance story, between the only two main characters in this story. Now if you were expecting anything different this is the time to leave. I don't want any flamers going "This was starting out as a nice fic but then you tried this kind of !#$and now it just sucks!" and blah bla-blah bla-blah. If you don't like romance, or you don't like SamusXRidley, or you just don't like Metroid, stop reading now or else don't come b!#hingto me about it. Other then that I hope you all like this chapter. I'm sure it'll start spicying stuff up a lot. Please review! Comments and criticism is certainly welcome but you better not flame.

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Chapter 4

Walking with Samus, with her in her power suit, made Ridley feel uneasy. Maybe it was all the bad memories with that suit, but even with her lost memories, Ridley couldn't help but expect Samus to whip around and blast him sky high.

They walked for little over an hour, the mountains that Ridley wanted to get to seemed further away on foot than while flying. Nothing they encountered seemed to feel like bothering them. They had met another Metroid along the way, but with no malice in the air, it just floated along, ignoring Ridley and Samus. It wasn't long after the first hour that Samus fell to her knees. The sudden collapse surprised Ridley and he hurried forward to see if she was ok.

"My feet hurt…" She whimpered.

Ridley gave Samus a deadpanned look. "Let's go…we still have a lot of land we need to cover…"

"Still…?! Can't we rest a little?"

Ridley growled. "We need to find some shelter…especially before-" Ridley was interrupted but a loud growling and he looked at Samus.

"I'm hungry…"

Ridley seethed. "I'm adding this to the list of reasons to kill you once you get your memory back…" Ridley looked down to see Samus still sitting there but now with her arms outstretched towards him. "What…?"

"Carry me…"

Ridley looked taken aback. "Excuse me…?!"

"Carry me…" Samus repeated. "It takes too long to walk, you're getting annoyed, and I can't fly so you carry me and fly to where ever you're taking us…"

"There's no way in hell I'm carrying you…" Ridley growled.

"Then find me some food…"

"What?! Go find it yourself!"

Samus set her hands on her waist. "You're more experienced at this than I am…seeing as I can't remember anything. Either carry me to where we're going then find me food, find me food then carry me to where we're going, or you can stand here and listen to me whine…"

That last option seemed to annoy Ridley to a point that he feared the prospect and Samus could see it, causing her to grin to herself.

After a moment of frustrated debating, Ridley started to walk off. "Stay there…I'll be right back…"

Samus watched Ridley stomping off, giggling to herself at how much control she had over the dragon. It wasn't till the sound of Ridley's stomping died out did a new sound reach Samus' ears. Samus strained her ears slightly and listened, finally deciding that the sound was that of a waterfall.

Samus looked around for Ridley. He was no where to be seen.

She'd only be gone for a second…It's not like Ridley would start panicking if she'd gone missing right? The funny thing was, Samus felt that that was exactly what would happen. Samus giggled to herself again, thinking that the amount of care and protection Ridley was unintentionally showing her was kinda cute for the ferocious dragon. She looked around again, didn't see Ridley anywhere, and stood up.

Samus slowly made her way towards the sound of the waterfall, looking back every now and then to try and remember which way she had come from and to see if Ridley was making his way back to her or not. After a minute or two of walking she found it. It was a small waterfall spilling into a lake of sorts that fed water to a nearby river. The lake had created a sand bed out of its own edges, allowing miniature waves caused by the waterfall to come onto the shore.

The place was really beautiful in Samus' opinion and she wondered why Ridley hadn't just taken her here. They had water right here, food that Ridley had set out to find, and even a small cave that was dug into the wall from which the waterfall was falling from. She walked to the shore and ran her hand through the incredibly clear water and her visor flashed different charts at her, making her jump in surprise. While her heart-rate returned to normal, Samus found herself looking at some sort of chart displaying the contents of the water. None of the stuff in the water seemed toxic to Samus and nothing was telling her otherwise. The temperature of the water seemed nice, especially in this humid jungle, making Samus decide on the spot what she was going to do next. With her course of action set, she started to undress…

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Ridley was stomping back to where he had left Samus dragging a large crocodile looking lizard behind him. It ticked him off at how much Samus was getting out of him. He understood that he had promised himself to help her until she got her memory back but he was starting to regret it now. It didn't take long for him to return to where he had left Samus.

"Listen, once you're done eating we're leaving…I'd like to get to the mountains before…Samus…?" Ridley looked around, not finding Samus anywhere. "Samus! Where are you?! Samus?!" Ridley felt himself panicking. Where had she gone?! He knew he had told her to stay put. Ridley flew up into the sky to try and spot Samus. Suddenly a glint caught his eye. He figured it must've been Samus' armor and he dove for it. He landed hard next to a lake. "Samus!!"

Samus screamed in surprise and spun around to see Ridley standing there next to where she had laid her armor.

Ridley blinked and stared. Samus was standing in the lake, completely naked with her arms drawn across her chest, and face slowly turning red.

"I thought I told you to stay put…" Ridley growled, the sight of Samus being naked not fazing him the slightest.

Even though it didn't faze Ridley, if made Samus feel hot and embarrassed. She reached down to the lake bottom and grabbed a rock, picking it out of the water and chucking it at Ridley. "Stop looking!!"

Ridley dodged the stone only to be hit by a second one. "H-hold on a sec, w-what are you doing?! Stop that!" Samus, however, didn't stop, Ridley's resistance only making her feel more flustered. Eventually Ridley had no choice but to duck behind some trees to avoid being hit but the rocks that Samus somehow kept finding in the water.

"What's wrong with you?!" Samus hissed, quickly getting out of the water. "You don't go staring at a girl while she's naked!!"

"S-sorry…I'm just not used to this kind of…manner…" Ridley found himself saying, which caused him to growl at himself. Why the hell was he apologizing? She should be the one to apologize for running off and throwing stuff at him.

After a minute Samus came around the tree, wearing her zero suit, and slapped Ridley on the arm, making him flinch. "Let this teach you a lesson then!"

"Teach me a lesson?! I told you not to go off on your own!" Ridley growled, grabbing Samus by the arm and pushing her against a tree. "Why'd you wonder off?! I was-" Ridley caught himself, but not before Samus figured out what he was about to say.

"You were…what…?" Samus asked, eyeing Ridley knowingly.

"Pissed off for one…" Ridley growled, but Samus could feel his grip loosening around her arm.

"Duly noted…and second?"

Ridley hesitated before speaking. "I was…worried…" he admitted. "I was worried that something had happened to you."

"Why? Because if something did you wouldn't be able to kill me yourself?" Samus asked.

Ridley remained silent for a moment, thinking back. "That…hadn't crossed my mind. I was just…worried…that you'd get hurt again…" Ridley leaned back against the tree he had hid behind and slid down until he was sitting, feeling ashamed at his emotions.

Samus crawled into Ridley's lap, making him look down at her. "I promise…nothing's going to happen to me…"

"But you have no memory, you're…vulnerable…"

Samus placed her hand over his beak, clamping it shut. "I won't let anything or anyone hurt me…except for you…"

Ridley blinked and spoke when Samus finally released his beak. "You do realize what you're saying right?"

Samus nodded. "I promise that if anything ever happened to me you'd be the one to do it…I think I had decided that long before I had even gotten amnesia…"

"Samus…I don't understand…what are you saying…?"

"Ridley…I think I love you…"

It took almost a minute for Ridley to process what Samus had just said. "You…what…?"

Samus' eyes started to water and she started to tremble. "I love you, Ridley. I know!" Samus almost shouted when Ridleytried to speak. "I know I'm supposed to hate you…the loathe how you killed my parents…but…even when I woke up…and you were choking me…I couldn't bring myself to hate you at all. All I could feel was…a yearning. All I could feel was a desire to meet an expectation…your expectations. And now I know what it was. To giveyou the fight you wanted. The victory you wished to receive. And all I wanted to do was push myself, to give you what you wanted."

"Samus, that's enough…" Ridley mumbled, looking away.

"Ridley I love you! Just help me help you get what you want!" Samus screamed, tears flowing from her eyes.

"I said that's enough!!" Ridley shouted, shoving Samus off of him, causing her to hit the ground rather hard. Ridley stood up and looked down at where Samus was laying, looking back up at him. "You're going to regain your memory, we're going to fight, and you're going to win…just like always…and I will return and it'll start all over again, just like always."

"But Ridley, I-"

"Enough!" Ridley growled. He glanced at the cave dug into the wall the waterfall was falling from. "Get your stuff into that cave, we'll stay here…When you get your stuff in there, you'll stay in there and not come out until I say so."

Tears streaming down her face and without so much as a glance towards Ridley, Samus got to her feet and ran past him, gathering her power suit and ran into the cave, leaving Ridley standing there alone.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It had been a full two weeks since Samus' outburst and ever since then she hadn't spoken at all aside from acknowledging Ridley's instructions or apologizing for making mistakes. Ever since that day, Ridley had been training Samus to become what she once was. To Ridley's surprise and relief, Samus' unconscious mind had not forgotten as easily as her conscious mind. Her reflexes were as sharp as ever and her timing was still on the dot. That was all good and well but it was not enough. Samus was still timid and frightened easily, making her sharp reflexes and excellent timing useless if all she did was cringe at upcoming attacks or trip over herself when trying to avoid them. It took what felt like forever to have Samus regain her old sense of confidence. It wasn't her old standards but even after two weeks Samus was now able to keep up with Ridley, though it was true that Ridley held some restraint on his attacks, not wanting to hurt Samus too much when she was still not ready for it.

Today, Ridley had to be extra careful. Samus was getting more and more dangerous, her attacks getting more and more accurate, and more and more deadly. If Ridley was too generous to the bounty hunter, he might just end up kicking the bucket himself.

Samus leapt back to avoid Ridley's tail and steadied herself, keeping her cannon aimed at him. Ridley opened his mouth and unleashed a "gentler" version of his normal blast of energy at Samus. Samus swung her arm back and her grappling hook shot out behind her, grabbing onto a thick tree branch and pulled herself up, out of the beams path and allowed the extra force from the beam carry her up where she settled on one of the large branches.

Ridley watched as he saw Samus disappear into the treetops. She had been using this ploy recently to regain her breath. Even though she was physically the same, she still did not know how to conserve her energy, causing her to loss her stamina a lot faster. It wasn't something Ridley could teach her, however, for it was something that the federation's training programs came up with. Ridley stomped through the forest, looking for a sign of Samus. She had gotten used to the bulk of her armor, so it was easier now for her to hide herself without accidentally leaving a part of her armor dangling out in plain sight. Ridley climbed up one of the trees to try and get a better look at the surrounding area.

As Ridley scanned the forest for Samus, the bounty hunter peeked out from behind the tree she was hiding behind. Ridley had walked past her and, to her relief, hadn't spotted her. Samus crept up underneath Ridley and threw her grappling hook at his tail and proceeded to yanking him down. Ridley gave a surprised screech as the branch underneath him gave way and he came crashing to the ground. When the dust cleared, Ridley saw Samus running at him, her Speed Boost building momentum until she had gotten enough and she became a blur, plowing into Ridley and shoving him up against a tree. Ridley shook his head to get the stars that had exploded in front of his eyes to go away and looked down to see Samus pointing a fully charged beam cannon at his face.

Panting heavily, Samus looked up at Ridley, a triumphant look on her face. Ridley grinned and, behind Samus, his tail snaked its way up, the spear like point aimed at Samus' back. Samus seemed to realize what was going on for she spun around quickly, but it was too late. Ridley's tail thrust forward, towards Samus' unguarded chest. Samus winced, preparing for the piercing pain that did not come. Instead, she felt Ridley's tail wrap itself around her, binding her arms to her body as she was lifted off the ground.

"You're still leaving too many openings. You can't just expect your enemy to surrender 'cause you can bet I sure won't." Ridley growled as Samus dangled from his tail, looking downcast and ashamed at her mistake. "If you feel you're victorious the least you could to is make sure that you are. At the very least, knock your opponent out so he doesn't have a chance to retaliate out of desperation, or in my case, with a better understanding of the situation." When Samus continued to look ashamed Ridley sighed. "Come on…that's enough for today…" Without releasing Samus, Ridley walked back to what you could call their temporary home.

Ridley walked into their cave and set Samus down and set out again to get them some food as Samus started to remove her armor. This had become their routine. It wasn't like Samus was milking Ridley's rare and unheard of generosity for all that it was worth, it was that Ridley refused Samus' help and after their little argument Samus did her best not to get Ridley upset. Samus sighed and got up, taking some of the logs that were stacked near the rear of the cave and started to try and make a fire she was sure that Ridley would end up using to cook what ever he brought back. She'd probably get scolded for doing it once Ridley got back but she didn't care. Over the past two weeks Ridley had done so much for her and refused her help all the while and it made Samus feel extremely useless, so Samus felt happy helping out even a little even if the result would be getting scolded.

When Ridley returned, he was holding a handful of skewered fish and he looked at the fire then at Samus, who looked back with a defiant glare. Ridley sighed and placed the skewered fish next to the fire, allowing them to cook. The two sat in silence as they watched the fish cook. Neither of them attempted to start a conversation, Samus not trusting herself not to say something that would get Ridley mad at her, and Ridley just wanting to avoid conversation all together. When the fish were all cooked and ready to be eaten, Ridley handed one to Samus, who took it, but didn't eat.

Ridley watched as Samus just sat there, looking glumly at the fish in her hands. Ridley growled slightly. "I'm going to regret asking but are you ok…? Are you not hungry or something?" Samus shook her head. "Then what's wrong?"

Samus remained silent for a moment before mumbling, "It's not fair…"

Ridley huffed. "Well if you're tired of eating fish you could've said something earlier…"

Samus shook her head again, still staring at the fish in her hands. "No…it's not that. Just…why must you be the only one to suffer?" Ridley knew where Samus was going with all this but remained silent. "Why can't you be happy for once? Be the one to accomplish his goal."

Ridley's hand shot out and gripped Samus' throat, Ridley standing up and forcing Samus to the wall. "Do you really want to die that badly?! Cause right now I have half a mind to kill you just to shut you up."

Samus looked up into Ridley's snarling face without so much as a hint of fear or regret. "If that's what you want, go ahead. If that's what'll truly make you happy then why hesitate? Why keep me alive and prolong your own misery?"

Ridley bristled and raised his tail, thrusting it towards Samus' face. Samus neither flinched or tried to get Ridley to stop, simply watched as Ridley's tail embedded itself into the wall, the blade of his tail leaving a shallow gash along the side of her face. Samus cocked an eyebrow at Ridley as he slowly released her.

"I…I can't do it…" Ridley mumbled.

"Why not? Isn't it what you always wanted?" Ridley shook his head so Samus corrected herself. "You want me at my best…so you prove your strength." Again Ridley shook his head. "Then…what is it?"

"When I became a pirate, all I wanted were two things. Money, and power." Ridley said, his back facing Samus. "Well I got the money from all the raiding we've done…and I certainly got the power. Yet…I still feel…empty. I thought it was just because it was just a hollow victory…well…it certainly was. I was and am feared throughout the galaxy, I can demolish entire worlds at my leisure and rip apart lives…like I did yours. But no…something else was missing." Ridley turned to Samus, who looked at him questioningly. "I wanted someone to look at as an equal, someone who doesn't mindlessly obey me, or immediately fear me when I have yet to do anything to them. That's just stupid."

"Sadist…" Samus mumbled.

Ridley glared at her but ignored her comment. "But what's more was I wanted someone to share the glory with…someone who would be happy with what I did, not simply pleased that I had completed a raid and for the loot to be shared among those I don't even care about. I wanted a goal, something to work for. At first it was simply to crush you, but you beat me so easily the first time. So I came back, hoping that I was stronger, that I could match up to you, but you still beat me. I had grown excited, something to work towards, someone who I wanted to acknowledge my strength. Someone who would be impressed by what I did, and not simply because I did it."

Samus sighed. "I'm sorry…but I really don't follow your logic…"

"Don't you get it…" Ridley walked up until he was directly in front of Samus. "It's not the fight and victory that I wanted. It's you…"

* * *

Gasp...I know, Ridley's gone over to the dark side...I mean...yeah... It had to be done one way or another or else this story might as well be catagorized as angst instead. I saw that some of you had commented on Ridley being OOC...all I have to say to that is love does that to you, whether you notice it or not, which obviously Ridley did not. For those of you who might hold the concern, don't worry, Samus will go back to being kick ass soon enough, as soon as I get rid of all the pesky stuff inbetween then and now. It kinda gives you a new perspective on Ridley's drive doesn't it?, this chapter... I know that there's only two possibilities, you either love it, or hate it. Either way, this is how I've decided to take things...so if you hate it....tough beans...go read a story where Ridley kicks Samus' ass instead or something...cause that's not going to happen in this fanfiction...Hallelujah the epiphany chapter is over with...now I can go onto the lovey dovey stuff that everyone just loves so much. R&R


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

He didn't know why he said it, but he knew it wasn't made up or simply a spur of the moment answer. Ridley stood there, waiting for Samus' reaction. However, Samus remained silent for a long while.

Eventually she spoke up, though it was evident that she was doing her best to keep her voice even. "Y-you're kidding right? Stop screwing around."

Ridley blinked, this obviously not being the answer that he was expecting. "W-what do you mean? I thought hearing that would make you happy or something."

Samus immediately flared up. "So is that why you said it? Simply to make me happy?"

Ridley gaped at Samus, hardly believing that she was arguing about it. "What?! No!"

"Then what?!" Samus almost screamed. "Are you trying to make me mad?! Cause it's working!"

"Samus, what are you talking about?! I'm serious here!" Ridley started to feel his temper rise. It's not every day the infamous space pirate goes confessing his feelings for someone and when he does, he's greeted with an attitude like this.

"Oh yes, I tell you that I love you and after that you barely talk to me for weeks! Then suddenly you tell me that you've wanted me all along?! How stupid do you think I am?! I may have amnesia but I still have common sense, Ridley!" Samus suddenly started putting her armor back on, quickly yet firmly.

"W-what do you think you're doing?"

Samus stood up, re-armored. "What does it look like? I'm leaving!"

"What?!" Ridley stood there, dumbfounded, as Samus walked out of the cave. "Y-you can't leave! You're still not back to normal yet!"

Samus turned coldly to Ridley. "I'll take my chances…" And without another word, Samus ran out.

"Samus, wait!" Ridley shouted, but to no avail.

As Ridley watched Samus run off, he couldn't help but hang his head in disappointment. He laughed bitterly to himself as he thought about what just happened. It all started with him wanting his victory, which, now that he thought about it, was just some petty excuse he somehow deluded himself into thinking. He had tried his hardest to save Samus and help her regain her memory. And now it came to this. Samus confessed her feelings towards him, and when he came to realization himself, she abandons him. Honestly, he didn't really expect anything else. If it was the old Samus, she would've probably killed him on the spot for just mentioning the fact that he wanted her.

Figuring that he should at least make sure Samus remained safe, Ridley exited the cave to search for her. No sooner had Ridley entered the forest, however, did he hear a scream. Quickly Ridley flew towards the scream and found Samus running, randomly firing wild shots behind her. Moments later, a Metroid appeared, chancing after Samus. But this Metroid wasn't in its first stage, nor second or third, but fifth. Ridley watched as the Zeta Metroid as it spat a liquid glob at Samus and the glob hit her in the shoulder. Almost instantly Samus' armor started to dissolve until it looked as if it had melted. Samus screamed as she saw where the glob had hit her armor dissolve.

"RIDLEY!!" Samus cried out as loud as she could.

The Zeta Metroid spat out another glob but Ridley dove and scooped Samus up just in time. Samus screamed as she was flown into the air and clung to Ridley's neck. Samus looked up at Ridley, a look of surprise on her face. A few moments of looking at Ridley, who refused to look back, her face changed to that of understanding, and laid there in silence as Ridley flew them back to their cave.

As they touched down outside their cave, Ridley set Samus down on her feet and walked straight inside, leaving Samus to stand there, a flood of emotions crashing down on her, as she removed her helmet. She was relieved that he wasn't too late, worried that he would be angry with her for leaving, scared that now he hated her for leaving, but over all happy that seeing he followed her, meaning that what he had said to her, was probably true.

"...Ridley..." Samus tempted. Ridley turned wordlessly to her, making her shallow in anxiety. "I...I'm sorry for running like that. And...I'm sorry if hurt your feelings. I just...didn't think it was possible. But, if you're willing to go by that again. I'm willing to believe you."

Ridley looked at Samus for a good long while before speaking up. "Why would I lie about something like that? You said it yourself didn't you?"

Samus looked at her feet, slightly embarrassed. "Well...you were denying it so much, that when you finally said it...it seemed a little too convenient. So...I doubted. I'm sorry..."

Ridley turned to Samus, sighing and scratching the back of his head, trying to find the right words to say. "I mean what I said. I do want you. But right now, I don't know what kind of want that is. Whether it's a good rival, a friend, or...I doubt it but a lover." Samus felt a pang in her heart but didn't look up. Ridley however seemed to feel it. "I'm not saying...it's not possible. It's just right now, I don't know. This half a month with you...it's got me thinking. Why am I doing this? Like really...why? If it was to kill you, I could've just let that wyrm eat you." Ridley noticed the look of confusion on Samus' face and decided he might as well tell her how she fell into his care. "We were fighting, as always, but there was an accident. You fell into a ravine, where you were attacked by a wyrm. I thought it was pride that made me save you, knowing that if you were killed by some animal and I couldn't kill you for as long as we've known each other I'd die of shame. It might still be, but...something's changed."

"What do you mean...changed...? I doubt a defenseless form of your archenemy would cause such a change in you..." Samus spoke up after a moment.

"Well...more like realized, I guess." Ridley amended. "I didn't want you to die. I wanted you to live, in any way possible." Ridley gave a dry chuckle. "I even went out of my way to defend your name."

"I bet it annoyed you when you found out I have amnesia." Samus gave Ridley a shy girn.

"You better believe it." Ridley said, but he smiled. "But that didn't stop me. I was determined to help you get your memory back. But ever since the wyrm attack months ago, I grew scared. Never in my life have I seen you so hurt, so close to death, so...vulnerable. And before I knew it, I grew protective over you. I couldn't bear it to see you that injured ever again."

"'That injured'?" Samus repeated, a knowing smile tugging at her lips.

"Fine...injured at all." Ridley gave an annoyed smile.

Samus giggled.

Ridley sighed and fell silent for a moment. Then, "Samus...tomorrow...I'm going to kill you..."

Samus's smile vanished in an instant. "W-what...?!"

Ridley smiled and shook his head. "You miss understand...tomorrow...I'm going to fight you with all I have, I won't hold any punches."

Samus couldn't help but give a sigh of relief but she immediately became scared again. "B-but I'm not ready yet. I'm still not at your level."

Ridley shook his head. "At this rate, if I hold back your body will get too used to my methods and you might not regain your memory as easily. You got everything you need and you've regain the strength and training your conscious mind has forgotten." But seeing as Samus still wasn't convinced, he smiled and walked towards her. "Trust me...you'll do fine...you just need confidence. You can do it."

Samus bit her lip. "And if I die?"

"That's not confidence..."

"I can't help it!"

"Samus..." Ridley placed a hand on Samus' shoulder. "Do you trust me?" After a moment, Samus nodded. "Then do as I say. Tomorrow will be a test. I won't hold back, but I won't kill you, I promise." Samus still looked nervous until Ridley pressed his beak against her cheek, in an awkward kiss, making Samus blush heavily. "Remember what you said? If anyone's going to kill you it'd be me. And if I'm promising you I won't kill you...then you should have nothing to fear."

In reality, Samus heard nothing that Ridley said after he kissed her, but in the end, her doubts were erased. She was determined to prove her worth to him.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the wait everyone. With school stress, my computer being infected four times and needing it's harddrive wiped, and my lack of attention span I haven't been able to write as often as I feel I should...ah who am I kidding I had two months. I'm sorry everyone. I know that this chapter alone doesn't make up for the time you all spent waiting but I hope to at least get in another chapter before New Years...I hope...

In anycase I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Remember to review. I love comments, I ask for criticizm, and I will kill flamers. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 7

Samus ran and hid behind a tree. To her it seemed like all she could do, run and hide. The night before Ridley said it was time to test her, but reassured her that he wouldn't go so far as to kill her. But at this moment, Samus found no comfort in those words. As she hid behind the tree, trying to catch her breath, she heard a soft crunching sound, like the grinding of compressing dirt. Samus flinched but dove out from behind the tree just as it was blown to shreds.

Ridley watched Samus dive out from behind the tree and run off but it was too late to adjust his aim so he just let his beam rip through the trees, carving a clean path through the dense forest. Ridley felt that overall Samus had recovered most of her skills as he pulled his talons out of the ground, which were dug in so that he wouldn't knock himself back while unleashing his beam. Samus knew what to sense for, which sounds to pick out and when to move. Against Ridley, Samus was pretty much ready. All that was left was the rest of the nuances of the galaxy…that and Samus' confidence.

"Come on, Samus…" Ridley called out into the forest. "You have to show more aggression. This simple game of cat and mouse isn't going to save you."

There was a frustrated cry and Ridley whipped around to see Samus leaping down from the tree tops and firing a charged beam cannon at him in mid-air and immediately followed with a volley of missiles when she hit the ground. Ridley gave a squawk of surprise at the sudden attack, even though he did provoke it, and covered himself with his wings, the beam hitting the thick hide and the missiles hitting him, freezing the surface of his hide, and causing everything else around him to explode. Though the dust, Ridley heard Samus' footsteps but couldn't react as she tackled him to the ground. When the dust cleared, Ridley found himself staring into the mouth of Samus' beam cannon.

Ridley chuckled. "Come on…this again…?" Ridley lifted his tail up to strike Samus from behind but this time Samus elbowed him hard in the beak, making him drop his tail. "Ok…what next…?" Samus charged up her beam cannon but didn't fire. Ridley seemed to wait patiently. After a couple minutes, Samus had yet to fire on Ridley. "Samus…"

Samus gave a frustrated groan. "I already have to cornered can't we be done with that?"

"Samus, my bounty is to bring me in dead…this isn't dead…" Ridley growled. "If you're not going to act as a bounty hunter you won't be able to go back to the way you were before."

"But Ridley…!" Samus tried to argue, but Ridley cut her off with a hiss.

"If you're not going to attack then I will…!" Before Samus could do anything, Ridley stabbed Samus in the stomach with a clawed hand.

Samus jerked in shock and the anticipation of pain, but it never came. She looked down to see Ridley's claws buried in the abdomen of her power suit but inside she could feel the tips of his claws just barely tickling her stomach.

"You lose…" Ridley said softly, pulling his claws out of her suit.

Samus shook in fright as she fell down onto her butt, sitting on Ridley's waist.

"Samus…?" Ridley peered at Samus through her visor. Samus didn't respond so Ridley reached up and pulled off Samus' helmet, making her jump and look down at him. "Come here…" Ridley opened his arms and Samus laid down in his grasp. "I'm sorry for scaring you…but you have to know that the world you used to live in, the world I still live in, isn't so nice. Ok…?"

Samus quivered but nodded.

"Come on…let's go fix your suit…" Ridley stood up, Samus still in his arms.

Samus looked down at her stomach as Ridley lifted her up, bridal style. There was a gaping in the center of the suit, going though and revealing her zero suit. She then looked up at Ridley. "How're you going to do that? We have no materials."

"Remember we're on a planet that used to be a research station. I'm sure we can find materials in the abandoned lab." Ridley pointed out and spread his wings, taking off with Samus in his arms.

Samus wrapped an arm around Ridley's neck to keep her balance in his arms as he flew. After several minutes for flying, Ridley descended into a large building that had falling into complete disrepair. Ivy was growing on the walls and many of the windows were shattered. There was even a large hole in the roof that Ridley landed in. The inside was ever worse than the out. It was like a scene from a horror film. Blood everywhere, the floor, the walls, even the ceiling. Bodies and body parts alike littered the floor, some humans, some aliens that Samus didn't recognize, and even some creatures that looked like crosses between multiple other creatures.

The site sickened Samus to the point she felt like throwing up but immediately forced it down as Ridley started walking. As Samus followed Ridley through the facility, her eyes wandered the halls. The walls sported scorch marks where Samus suspected lasers had missed their targets. As they passed doorways, Samus peered inside to see offices completely trashed and bloodied, with bodies of scientists and experiments alike.

"Samus…?"

Samus snapped to attention to see that Ridley had started down some stairs behind her and she doubled back to follow Ridley down. When they reached the bottom most floor, Ridley opened the door directly opposite of the stairwell and they were greeted with total darkness. Ridley and Samus walked as far as leaking light from the outside allowed them to see and stopped at the edge of the darkness.

"Hm…unless I'm mistaken…" Ridley walked off to the side as Samus tried to makes stuff out of the darkness in front of her. "Ah here it is." There some shuffling sounds, as if Ridley was dragging something across a surface, and then a loud click, the whirling sound of a generator and the lights flickered to life.

Samus blinked her eyes in the sudden flood of light and she was greeted with the head of what looked like a raptor right in her face with its mouth open in what looked like a silent roar. Samus screamed and stumbled back, tripping over her own feet and falling backwards. Now that she was further back, Samus realized that the raptor like creature was dead, impaled by a mechanical arm sporting a drill-like device.

Samus panted as her heart-rate returned back to normal and Ridley walked over to where she laid, looking at the creature that had scared Samus.

"Interesting…I've never seen one of those with wings and three legs before…" Ridley said, mildly curious in the dead creature.

"Can we just finish what we came here to do and leave?" Samus groaned, letting her head fall against the floor.

"If you insist." Ridley said, looking down at where Samus laid. "I just need you to strip down."

"What!?!" Samus' head jerked up as she looked at Ridley in surprise.

"If I want to repair your suit I need you out of it first…" Ridley pointed out, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh…that's what you wanted…" Samus muttered, blushing slightly as she started to extract herself out from her Power Suit.

"What were you thinking about…?" Ridley asked, taking the suit from Samus.

Samus blushed harder. "Nothing…"

"Uh huh…" Ridley said, unbelieving, walking off with Samus' suit and dumping it onto a table. He walked to one of the computers that wasn't cracked or had blood all over it and began to work on it.

As Ridley typed, several of the mechanical arms around the room started moving, including the one that was impaled in the creature that scared Samus. The arm pulled itself out of the corpse and moved to the Power Suit, sparks fly as soon as it touched the suit as it started to weld. Samus walked over to where Ridley and sat down, her back leaning against the console Ridley was working on. The process took forever. Eventually Samus found herself dozing off and ended up falling asleep.

She didn't know how long she was out, but Samus eventually felt herself being shaken awake and she opened her eyes. Samus looked up to see Ridley holding her power suit out for her, the abdominal and shoulder area fixed but that's not what caught Samus' attention. Ridley seemed to have a field day with the machinery and decided to alter some of Samus' suit to his personal preference.

Her helmet now had a sort of dragonic appearance to it, like a mouth of a dragon opening up for her visor, replacing the top half and breath mask portion of her helmet and the beak protruding slightly more onto the visor than before. The left hand was now clawed, instead of a simple hand sporting a grappling beam, and had a blade coming out of the elbow. The shoulder guard was slightly less bulky, about the size of her old Light Suit. At the knees, the guard had a particular sharpness to it, making it look more like a weapon than a piece of armor. But probably the biggest change was to the back of the armor due to the simple fact that it now had wings sprouting out from the sides of pack on the back. The thrusters on the pack were also remodeled, looking like the suit could get some serious height considering how compact it was with the aid of the added thrusters on the calf area. The color scheme was pretty much the same; however the left forearm and hand, altered parts of the helmet, the knee guard, and wings matched the color of Ridley's hide.  
Samus could do nothing but gape at her new power suit.

Ridley's face, which had been in somewhat of a grin, fell. "You don't like it…?"

Samus quickly closed her mouth and shook her head quickly. "No it's not that…it's just…different…"

Ridley looked at the suit and then back at Samus, a hint of sadness on his face. "Well if you prefer it the other way I can always change it back…"

"No, Ridley, I like it." Samus said quickly. "It's just...different…that's all." She pointed at the left elbow, where the blade was sticking out. "That may be a little dangerous though…if someone were to stand behind me…"

"That's no problem." Ridley said, opening up the cannon and pointed inside at where Samus' hand would hold and trigger the different mechanics of her suit. "Like before, thumb controls launching mechanism, index toggles between beams and missiles, and middle triggers your morph ball sequence. Simply release the trigger," Ridley pressed down on the trigger where Samus' index finger would be and released it, causing the mechanism inside to shift and bring a missile to the barrel, "and the function activates. Now the ring finger," Ridley pushed and released the trigger, causing the blade in the left elbow to retract into a compartment and the compartment slide back into the back of the arm, "and the blade is put away. The pinkie controls the wings."

"Will they make me fly?" Samus said, before Ridley could demonstrate.

"Not exactly. They're simply to let you glide through the air. Letting the suit fly would consume too much power." Ridley said, pressing and releasing the trigger. The wings wrapped themselves around the shoulder of the suit and draped themselves against the suit's chest. "The pinkie toggles the position of the wings, so it won't get in your way when you're moving in crowded areas by constantly being open."

"Anything different about the thrusters?" Samus asked, pointing at the back and legs of the suit.

"Nope, just slightly more powerful than before and the legs will help you control yourself better." Ridley explained. "I won't show you because I don't want the suit jumping around unmanned but simply twist the handle back and the thrusters will ignite. Don't use it for too long or else you might overheat them. It's mainly to help you get enough air to use your wings."

Samus examined the left hand of the suit. "The hand looks different…and I don't just mean the claws…"

"Twisting the handle forward," Ridley continued, "releases one of your bombs into your left hand for you to use as a grenade."

"You really went all out on this didn't you?" Samus smiled up at Ridley.

"I try…" Ridley beamed.

"Can I try it out?" Samus asked.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't."

Ridley helped Samus open the suit up and closing it as soon as she stepped in, locking everything into place. Last came the helmet, which Samus snapped on, locking it to the suit. Immediately the suit powered up and came to life. Suddenly a pain shot through Samus' head and she clutched at it.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. The helmet also has a neural enhancement. The newest one model." Ridley said proudly.

"Wait…wasn't the newest model banned by the government?" Samus said quickly, the pain receding but horror was filling her mind. But oddly enough, the emotion seemed…distant, like it wasn't her emotion.

"Well only cause it caused unstable emotions…but honestly I figured you were strong enough to overcome it…" Ridley said matter-of-factly.

"What?!" Samus screamed, feeling incredibly scared at that moment, more scared than when she came face to face with the creature laying not twenty feet from her. "Why did you do something like that without telling me?!"

"Samus calm down. I know the side effects but I know you're strong enough of overcome induced emotions." Ridley said, but he started to wonder if he had made a mistake.

Suddenly Samus' fear was replaced by anger. "Take it out!" She shouted. "Take it out this instant you stupid lizard!"

The room fell dead silent, Ridley merely staring at Samus and Samus going over what she had said.

"Oh my god…Ridley I'm so sorry…I-I didn't mean it…" Samus stammered. "It was the enhancement I swear…I didn't mean to say that to you…"

"Samus, calm down…" Ridley said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No…take it out…I don't want to even think about saying that again…!"

"Samus!" Ridley shouted, effectively gaining Samus' attention. "You've done it…" Samus looked curiously at Ridley, who smiled. "You've already overcame it…you haven't realized it yet?"

Samus urged herself to calm down and found out that, aside from her head pounding from the blood rushing to her head in all the excitement, the feelings were gone. "What…how…?"

"It's cause you had a stronger feeling…your care towards me…"

"But…that was nothing…why was it so hard for people to overcome?"

Ridley hesitated for a moment. "I think it's cause…your feelings are genuine…probably the first time I could believe it without a doubt."

"Ridley…seriously, you cute when you're not trying to kill me, but try and come up with something less cheesy."

Ridley shook his head. "It's what I believe. And did you know, the old you before couldn't handle the enhancement…" Samus blinked in an attempt to understand what he was implying. "You probably haven't noticed it yet, but you're already stronger than you were before."

Samus blushed and looked away. "You're just saying that…I haven't become stronger…just…mushy."

Ridley chuckled. "Well I've noticed that sometimes that is one of the strong points in humans…ironically enough."

* * *

Ok, one thing I would like to point out is that out of all the upgrades Samus recieves, not one of them is a melee weapon. I mean sure she has her screw attack, speed boost, and grappling hook, but seriously, when are you ever able to use those effectively when the enemy is beating you senseless at point blank range while you wildly try to get a clear shot at it? That's all. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I hope to update sooner than this one did... Remember to review! Do it!!

Oh and for those who are going to whine about how Ridley is EXTREMELY OCC well guess what. People change, especially when they're the root of all evil and suddenly finds love. SO DEAL WITH IT!


	8. Chapter 8

It's been a while hasn't it? Two years and counting. Unfortunately I haven't been feeling very...write-y, and when I do feel like writing something it's usually not fanfiction. But I'm amazed that I still have people to this day, after two years of no updates, posting reviews saying they wish for me to continue. Personally I thought was starting to die out but I guess I was wrong. I know this isn't a long chapter...honestly I feel it looks ridiculously tiny...and I will tell you that this update was a miracle in itself so future updates might not even come, depends on if I feel like writing...but for what it's worth I thank each and every one of you that is still reading this today. It does my heart good to know that my work is appreciated. I will try my best to motivate myself to continue and finish this story but I honestly don't know which way I'll be taking the story myself. It'll all depend on what mood I'm in when I finally motivate myself to continue. But with that all said and done, I hope those of you still reading this story enjoy and find it in your hearts to forgive this short chapter. I gave you plot! That counts for something right?

* * *

Chapter 8

"What do you mean 'go back'?"

"I mean what I say." Ridley replied flatly, carefully steering the cruiser that he and Samus were currently flying in. A full week had passed since Ridley repaired and modified Samus' power suit and before Samus realized what was happening, Ridley had salvaged a ship from the abandoned research lab and said that he was taking her back to the federation.

"But why?!" Samus smacked Ridley's shoulder with her helmet in her hand, trying to at least get him to help her understand his reasoning. "Why do we have to go back to the federation?! Maybe you've forgotten but you're kind of a wanted pirate! The moment you enter the system every federation ship will have their guns pointed at you."

Ridley gave a grunt, pushing Samus' helmet aside to prevent another hit to his shoulder. "We're in an unmarked transport…they won't fire on us right away. That's more the pace of us pirates." Samus tried to hammer Ridley once more but Ridley finally took her helmet from her. "Samus, stop it. I don't know how to get your memories back and you can bet going to a pirate controlled sector isn't going to help, even if I'm the one taking you there. The federation is the only place left to go. Hopefully they'll have doctors that can help you."

"But what about you?! If try to you drop me off anywhere within the federation you're going to get captured if not killed!" Samus tugged on Ridley's arm, as if trying to get him to change the ships direction and go back the way they came. "I don't need my memories, let's just go back and forget about everything else."

Ridley gave a small sigh, looking down at his own hands. He couldn't explain it to himself, he didn't know why he was trying to get Samus' memories back. The thought of simply remaining on the abandoned planet with Samus until their dying days did seem very appealing, but the idea also made his scales crawl. Living a quiet and peaceful life simply wasn't for him.

"Samus…it just wouldn't sit right with me knowing you're not…whole…" He glanced at Samus, who continued to try and tug on his arm. "I promise…I'll be fine. I've been avoiding the Federation longer than you've been alive."

Samus glared at Ridley for a long while. "If anything even begins to happen, promise me you'll get out of there. I don't care if we can't get my memories back but just…" She gripped the dragon's arm tightly. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Ridley rolled his eyes. "Even if I get hurt I heal fine…" he paused, seeing Samus' glare not wavering. He sighed again before leaning down and giving Samus the smallest of licks across the cheek, which made her blush. "Alright…I promise…"

* * *

The travel only took a couple hours before they reached one of the planets that the federation was stationed on. It was no core world but it did have a military base stationed on it. They managed to get into the atmosphere unimpeded but once they got close to the base they were immediately hailed.

"You are entering a restricted area. Turn your ship around or we will shoot you down."

Ridley, trying not to let his pirating nature get the best of him, attempted his best to be…civil. "Hold it. We're not trying to cause any trouble here. We need help."

There was a short pause on the communication channel before the officer on the other end replied. "What kind of help would you need from a military base?"

"I have…someone with me who's got a severe case of amnesia. I'm assuming you have medics and doctors stationed here?"

Another pause, most likely as the officer called his higher ups to see what he should do. After a minute the officer's voice came through the channel again. "Proceed to the central landing zone. Be warned if we suspect anything you will be shot down."

Ridley grumbled slightly but acknowledged the warning. "Understood…"

Samus looked up at Ridley. She could see he was very tense. Coming this far into a military base and at the military's mercy was probably very nerve-wracking for the dragon. She put a hand on his arm, trying to comfort him.

Ridley glanced at Samus, remembering that this was for her. He steeled himself before piloting the transport to landing zone the officer had mentioned. Like expected, there were military personal lined up just outside the landing zone, both anti-personnel and anti-aircraft weapons pointing at the ship. Ridley tried to land the ship as casually as he could.

He looked to Samus. "Well…we're here."

Samus nodded, putting on her helmet. "…Maybe you should stay in here. If they see you they'll probably try and gun you down."

Ridley shook his head. "I'm not letting you go in alone. I'll be fine."

Samus gripped Ridley's arm again, trying to find comfort in it. "Alright then…"

The two of them made their way out of the transport, Samus first, then Ridley. At first the soldiers started to lower their weapons. While Samus' power suit had been modified it was still recognizable as the famous bounty hunter. No one had heard of Samus in close to three months and now here she was, on a small military base. Some of the soldiers started to lower their weapons and start for Samus but when Ridley stepped out of the transport everything turned upside down.

"It's Ridley! Fire!"

Samus tried to wave her arms and shout for them to stop, that they weren't here to cause harm, but Ridley quickly reached out and grabbed Samus and shoved her behind his body as the first wave of projectiles hit them. The two were blown off their feet and slammed into the side of the ship but the barrage didn't stop there. The onslaught continued for several seconds, most of the soldiers having to reload their weapons at least twice, and only ended when a commanding officer called a cease fire.

The ship that Ridley and Samus had used was completely decimated, countless projectile holes in its hull and in flames from the fuel igniting. Ridley was a mass of pain and blood as his thick hide was pierced several times during the barrage. Most of the ammunition had bounced off his hide but some of the anti-aircraft projectiles managed to catch him on more fleshy areas, piercing through and leaving gaping, bloody holes in his body. Ridley was fighting to remain standing and looked behind him to see if Samus was alright. The blast had slammed the both of them into the ship, Samus caught between the metal hull and Ridley's body. Samus' helmet had been knocked off and Ridley could see blood seeping from a wound on the back of her head. But Samus was still conscious, reaching back and cupping the wound as Ridley watched, grunting in pain.

Ridley flared in anger, turning to face the soldiers as the smoke from the barrage started to clear. "Hey! We said we weren't here to cause trouble. Samus needs hel-" Before Ridley could complete his sentence, he felt a sharp impact to his back, strong enough to send him flying forward a dozen and a half meters. Before he could get up he felt something land on his back, forcing him down. Ridley twisted his head around to see what had hit him and what was on his back and his eyes widened to see himself staring down the barrel of Samus' arm cannon. One look into her eyes and Ridley knew what had happened. Samus' eyes were no longer soft, no longer caring. Only harsh, fierce, and determined, eyes that Ridley hadn't seen in months. Ridley felt his heart plummet. Samus had regained her memories back…and she didn't look happy.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Are you sure you should be up and about like this?"

Samus lowered her arm cannon and turned from the target she had been firing at to look at the soldier who had asked her the question. "The doctors said I was fine, I'm saying I'm fine, and I'm trying to figure out what else that lizard did to my Power Suit before I accidently blow something up because I didn't know about a new feature."

Hearing the near cynical tone in Samus' voice, the young soldier immediately closed his mouth and stepped back to stay out of her way.

Samus turned her back to the soldier and held out her hand, bringing forth one of her many explosive mines. She gave a small scoff. "I guess the lizard can think outside of the box SOME times…" She lazily tossed the mine and allowed it to roll towards one of the closer targets. Upon bumping into the target the explosive detonated, sending debris flying everywhere. She gave a soft sigh. Well at least nothing seemed to be BROKEN…though the implant that Ridley had added was making her a bit more snarky than she would've liked.

She closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind, the implant not helping as random flashes of violence popped up whenever it wasn't needed. But eventually Samus was able to find herself and relax, causing light to shine through the crevices of her Power Suit. After a moment her suit started to fade. A second later Samus stood there, in her Zero Suit and unarmored save for her helmet. She reached up to remove her helmet too and, as she did so, that faded away as well.

"Is everything alright, ma'am?"

Samus nodded slightly, still looking at her hands as the glow of the symbols on the back of her hands started to dim. "Yeah. I'm fine…Just trying to figure out what I've been doing for the past couple months is all…"

The soldier approached her once again, letting his weapon hang off the belt over his shoulder. "You still can't remember anything?"

Samus frowned and shook her head. "No…All I remember is being attacked by a creature when I was last fighting Ridley….and then…" her voice tailed off, shaking her head some more. She then looked at the soldier. "You know you don't have to follow me around right? I can take care of myself."

The soldier hesitated before standing up straight. "I was ordered to make sure you were well tended to ma'am."

Samus rolled her eyes. "Ok…let me try that again…STOP following me around…"

The soldier flinched at her emphasis of the word "stop" and was about to argue but the glare she gave him took the wind out of his sails.

With the soldier cowed, Samus left the training room, walking through the halls of the base. While she was a little disapproving of the way she had been spoken to the young soldier just for following orders there was something else on her mind too. The truth was she HADN'T forgotten what had happened in the previous months, not entirely anyways. She couldn't remember everything but the things she did remember was…mind boggling…such as one memory of falling asleep one night under Ridley's wing. But of course that wasn't something she was about to go telling people, memories or no memories.

It had been about a week since she and Ridley had arrived at this base and, after being confined and examined extensively by the base's medical team to make sure nothing was wrong with her, the base and her had contacted the core worlds, informing them that they had Ridley in their custody and one of their prized bounty hunters had been found.

At first, Samus wasn't able to remember anything between her last fight with Ridley and when she found herself at the military base but as time went on she found herself remembering more and more. A lot of the memories didn't make too much sense to her, all things considered. She couldn't understand why Ridley would seem to care for her, why she was ok with him getting so close, and why she and Ridley was traveling together on a pirate ship to a military base.

Samus found herself stopping in front of a door, guarded by two well-armed soldiers. Without even a second's hesitation, she walked right up to them. "Open the door…"

The armored soldier looked at her. While he respected Samus' reputation to the moon and back, his posture remained stiff and at attention. "I'm sorry. But the captain's orders were that no one is to see the prisoner until the transport ship is prepped and ready."

Samus growled a little, letting her hands ball into fists. While Samus' voice remained soft, one could easily notice the threatening aura coming from her words. "I said…open…the door…"

The guard hesitated before looking at his partner, who shrugged helplessly. He looked back at Samus before moving aside and opening the door from a nearby console. Samus climbed through the door way before it was completely opened and quickly the guards closed the door back up, having been trained to not take chances and leaving the door open longer than they needed to. Samus walked down a short corridor before another door opened up in front of her as she got close, allowing her to step into a rather brightly lit room.

The room was split in two, the half where she now stood and the half where she could see Ridley, chained up and bound. Thick manacles were wrapped around the base of the dragon's wings as his hands and feet were enclosed within the platform and the ceiling above his head. His tail was also trapped within a manacle, just like his wings, and there was even one that was wrapped around his snout, muzzling him and preventing any unwanted destructive beams from Ridley's mouth. There was also a field of energy that separated Samus and Ridley, humming slightly and dancing with electric life.

Samus watched as the dragon just hung there, letting the ceiling above him that held his hands in place hold him up while he himself simply laid there suspended. As Samus walked up to the wall separating the two of them, Ridley opened one of his eyes, took sight of Samus, and closed the eye once more.

Samus looked at Ridley for a couple minutes before walking over to a console set into the wall, typing on it briefly. "I got a couple questions for you, lizard…" She hit a key on the console and the binding around Ridley's mouth retracted, leaving him free to speak or fire off his deadly laser…which he did neither. He didn't so much as make a move that indicated he was even aware one of his bindings had become undone. Samus walked herself in front of Ridley once more, with only the field of energy in between them. "Tell me what happened during the months that I was with you." When Ridley didn't answer Samus pounded her fist against the wall of energy, which promptly stopped her fist from going any further than the field. "Answer me!"

Ridley gave a soft scoff, opening his eyes only to look at Samus through narrow slits. "What I have to say, you don't want to hear…" And with that he closed his eyes once more.

Samus pounded the wall again. "I want to know what happened! Tell me!"

"Why do you still have the enhancement installed? Take it out already…" Ridley snorted in derision. "You're starting to sound like a raging lunatic."

Samus screamed at Ridley. "You said I could handle it! You said that strong emotions can overcome it!"

Ridley opened his eyes again and glared at Samus. "…So you do remember what happened…"

Samus faltered. "I…no…I mean…I DON'T remember!" She was gritting her teeth, trying to keep herself calm. "I only remember bits and pieces of what happened but there are too many blanks to make any sense of anything."

Ridley shook his head. "Then just forget about the past couple months and do what you've always done."

"But I don't want to!" Samus knelt down in front of the force field, feeling oddly defeated. "I don't want to do something and then later remember something that will make me regret it for the rest of my life…"

Ridley watched Samus sink down before speaking softly. "I don't know what you have forgotten and what you actually remember…but if you ever need to…talk…"

Samus scoffed and turned her back on Ridley, sitting down with her back leaning against the force field. "Ridley, one of the most fearsome pirates in all the galaxy, offering me an ear…what has the world come to…" She pulled her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "…You really mean that, don't you…?" Ridley didn't answer but Samus felt that having Ridley refuse to answer was the same as getting the answer she was expecting. "…You know…we never actually talked to one another did we…"

Ridley rolled his eyes. "Why would we? I steal, you come to kill me. I think that is more 'talk' than will ever be needed."

Samus nodded, clenching her fists. She was trying to find that rage again, the feeling where she just wanted to punch, kick, slash, and blast Ridley until he was nothing but dust. The feeling that came so easily moments ago. But now…all she could feel is loneliness. "…Then why does THIS feel…so right…?"

Before Ridley could even come up with a response, the door opened and a man walked in, flanked by the two guards outside. The man saluted to Samus. "The transport ship is ready, ma'am. We are ready to transport the prisoner to the capital to stand trial."

Samus' face hardened as she pushed herself up, the emblems on her back, chest, and the back of her fist glowing and making her power suit materialize around her. Wrapping the new wing additions around her shoulders like a cloak, she nodded to the commanding officer and looked back at Ridley, her face hard to read through the tinted visor. "Then let's get this over with already…"


End file.
